The Advanced Guide to Hiring a Forward-Thinking CTO

If you own an entrepreneurial startup company, one of your first major goals should be hiring a top-quality CTO. Whether you located a great, well-qualified candidate in the early or later is not the main issue. It is critical to your company’s success, however, that your CTO manages all functions of your tech team seamlessly. Your ideal candidate will also be prepared to achieve all the objectives of your business team as a leading software company. This person must also be prepared to run accurate, comprehensive retrospectives for driving outstanding productivity results. With thorough understanding of the latest advanced technology relevant to your industry, your CTO will move your startup continuously forward to new and greater success. You will find a CTO who is a strong, developing leader.  

Most Important Steps to Hiring a Forward-Thinking CTO for Your Company

Essential steps to take to ensure hiring an expert, forward-thinking CTO for your company include the following: 

Hire a Technical Advisor Before Choosing a CTO

Many tech company management experts recommend that you hire a technical advisor as well as a CTO. As a technical founder, you know that the majority of tech advisors work just a few hours per month for a company. During this time, this tech consultant would discuss tech issues with your CTO and suggest resolutions to any problems. This person might also generate periodic code review and even be a major player in your efforts to find a CTO. If suitable for your needs, your tech advisor can interview CTO candidates and review applicants’ qualifications. Some tech advisors have actually had excellent advice concerning how to find a CTO.

It is often easier to locate a good tech advisor than finding the right CTO to facilitate startup grind medium success. This is mainly because your advisor will only be working with you a few hours per week or month as needed. Tech advisors who work as consultants are frequently looking for new part-time engagements. For this reason, they are usually pleased to join a new company and work with founders after 5. In addition, they are normally flexible in terms of work hours and schedules and will adapt to suit your needs. Of course, tech advisors are also accustomed to working closely with tech teams, which will help your new CTO. 

Define Your CTO Work Requirements and Create a Clear Job Description

The best candidates for your CTO position are high-achievers like expert tech team leaders or experienced software developers. Look for candidates who want to advance to a higher employment level in their careers. You may want an applicant who has previously worked for growing startups. The ideal candidate will be someone who is eager to seek answers rather than claiming to know all the answers. The best candidates will be glad to utilize and develop multiple technologies, such as front end, back end and mobile. Good knowledge and use of coding is also essential.     

Interview CTO Candidates Mapping Each Skill to Conversation Step

When interviewing candidates, your ideal choice should be someone with the right balance of technical and soft skills. You can often find startup partners easier than finding a great CTO. CTO startup jobs are often attractive as more advanced tech positions for expert CTO candidates. You also want a new CTO who has a compatible culture fit. This job position definitely requires more than just good coding skills. Before starting the interviewing process, create a map including the list of skills needed by a candidate. Then match each skill with a step in the interview. This will guide the interviewer to the best point during the interview session at which to test the candidate for competency in using this skill. For example, you might match “Motivation” with the “Phone screen” section of the interview, giving it high priority. 

Emphasize Candidate Integrity and Culture Fit

Business development advisors recommend giving the skills of integrity and culture fit the same level of high priority given to motivation in a tech co. The applicant’s technical knowledge and business experience can take second place in the chain of interviewing importance. You need a CTO with optimal degrees of integrity to safeguard all areas and aspects of your company operations. Your new CTO must be an ideal fit for all that your business does and represents. The best candidate will also have utmost respect for your company mission and goals and be an enthusiastic, supportive member of your staff and company community. CTO options vary in different locations, but these jobs attract highly skilled applicants. You can often attract the best people in a similar manner as how you find founders. Of course, you must go through this entire process before the startup.

Promote the Job to the Best Candidate

During the interview process, you should skillfully sell your available CTO job position to the very best candidate. You can approach this process more easily since you know how to find a technical cofounder. Top-level applicants may have multiple job offers from a variety of companies. By presenting your company as a dynamic, innovative, exciting and inspiring business to work for, you will capture applicants’ interest. However, to turn a top candidate into a new hire, you must convey how much they will gain from your company. Describe the many new challenges, opportunities, advantages and extra benefits of working with your business. The very best candidate will have a keen interest in what they can give to and gain from working for you and your forward-moving company.  

Hiring a forward-thinking CTO for your innovative and growing company is essential to maintain a competitive edge in industry today. By hiring a technical advisor, you can gain valuable assistance in locating and interviewing ideal job candidates. When you create a clear, concise job description and use updated interviewing procedures, the process will be smoother. In addition, you can determine which candidates have the ideal balance of technical and soft skills. By showing your enthusiasm about your company’s work challenges, opportunities and benefits, you will capture applicants’ interest. You will find the ideal candidate for your dynamic, progressive and growing business.